CM: ‘A Rossoneri heart’ – why Parma-Milan means more to Cutrone

One of the many sub-plots to the game between Parma and AC Milan is the presence of Patrick Cutrone, who would love to score against his old club.

As Calciomercato.com recall, Cutrone spent 10 years at Milan and that length of time leaves memories not easily forgotten, especially when it is also your boyhood team. Cutrone fulfilled the dream playing for his beloved Milan, and even having scored a derby winner under the Curva Sud.

Tonight, starting at 20:45 CET when Marco Di Bello blows the whistle for kick-off, Milan will be Cutrone’s opponent again. A player who probably cheers the Rossoneri’s victories will all of a sudden look to try and hurt his favourite club.

A dream achieved

Cutrone’s tally with Milan was 27 goals in 90 appearances, a good return for a striker who was very young at the time, often coming off the bench. He often put his face in front of the cameras in the most difficult moments, of which there were a lot in the 2010s.

Patrick is a young man with a strong personality, someone who never hid and always took every decision head-on, with courage and determination. The most difficult one, in reality, was more forced upon him than personally chosen.

On the night of 27 July 2018, Cutrone took a plane from Boston (where he was on tour withMilan) to return to Milan. He had been sold for €18m plus bonuses to Wolverhampton Wanderers in the Premier League.

At the airport, before his departure, Patrick was frowning and sad. Leaving Milan hadn’t been his choice and it hurt a lot, especially after 10 years of mutual love. It is not too dissimilar to what Sandro Tonali would experience a few years later.

Cutrone admitted afterwards: “Leaving AC Milan was a shock. A strange moment, because I imagined myself there. It all came at once, not easy to digest. But that’s football. I was 21 and I was leaving the place where I grew up.

“I had a strong bond with the team and the fans. In fact, so many wrote to me after the promotion. You know the relationship between me and them. I grew up at AC Milan, and in those two years in the first team, I created a great bond.”

He has failed to score in the five Serie A games he played against his beloved Diavolo. He would go to Wolverhampton, Fiorentina, Valencia, Empoli and then Como, the team of his hometown. A loan to Parma followed this summer, but after netting on his debut against Atalanta, he hasn’t scored since.

Carlos Cuesta’s side have had a difficult start to the season, with just one win in 10 league matches. The Spanish coach is banking heavily on Cutrone’s motivation, as he will partner the Argentine Mateo Pellegrino, someone who could be the future of Milan.